Speaker:
Spencer N. Axani, MIT
Abstract:
Determining if the neutrino is its own antiparticle is one of the most pressing questions in
modern day elementary particle physics. It has far reaching implications rivaling that of
neutrino oscillation -- the only evidentiary physics beyond the Standard Model. We can
answer this question with the observation of an ultra-rare decay called "neutrinoless double
beta decay."
The relentless push for new detector technologies and background reduction techniques has
finally brought us to the potential for discovery in the near future. However, if we observe
this decay, to understand its full meaning will require us to also answer the question of how
many neutrino species exist.
This talk presents two of the worlds most sensitive searches for new neutrino physics hoping
to resolve these questions: a low-energy search for neutrinoless double beta decay with the
KamLAND detector in Japan, and a unique high-energy search for a new neutrino state using
the IceCube detector at the South Pole.
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